Michelle Mulherin (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State. I acknowledge the remarkable work that has been done by him and his predecessors in the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation in reversing our fortunes and bringing us almost to a point of full employment nationally. However, even Project Ireland 2040 acknowledges regional imbalance. The west is playing catch up. While I am talking about the north and the east of the county, Mayo is the third largest county, so we are talking about a vast area. I understand that FDI companies decide where they want to establish operations. I also understand the challenges and intricacies involved. However, I am asking what efforts have been made to encourage new FDI into Mayo. I acknowledge that there has been growth among the existing FDI companies. Those companies have been very successful and are very much part of the community and invest in it.

I set out a list for the Minister of State of what should be selling points for us, namely, the transatlantic fibre-optic cable, high-speed, state-of-the-art technology, planning permission for a data centre, a renewable power station and a technology park. Can he tell me why IDA Ireland is doing nothing with the technology park in Ballina? It has been there since I was on the town council and the council did everything to facilitate the acquisition and servicing of the site and planning permission, but nothing has been done with it. I am acutely aware of what is happening in the area. I do not expect FDI in every town and village as that would be unreasonable. I am asking that, nationally, we position ourselves as an open economy to attract FDI. We want and need more in this area. We have a substantial population and the figures show we are losing young people, notwithstanding jobs growth. The reason there has been a reduction in the unemployment figures is that people have emigrated or migrated to the big urban centres, putting pressure on housing, education and so on, resources which we have an abundance of in our area.

While the Minister may not be able to answer me today, I did flag these issues. I ask that he would perhaps get some answers about the technology park and about these different pieces of infrastructure, which would allow us to position ourselves as a technology hub. However, there does not seem to be an appetite to do that. Perhaps there is some work going on behind the scenes of which I am not aware. If so, the general public, the taxpayer and I would like to know about it.